LAST LOOK: Cebu's Handuraw Pizza on Gorordo closes its doors

Text and photos by Cheryl Baldicantos

CEBU CITY -- After a decade of local bands, thin-crust pizzas and below-zero degrees beers under the roof of a 1950s house, the iconic Handuraw Pizza in Gorordo Avenue, Cebu City is closing its doors.

The popular pizza joint will have its last day of operations on Thursday.

This is the second time that the restaurant is forced to pack up and a high-end building is expected to replace it. Handuraw also had to vacate before from their place in Brgy. Mabolo.

Apart from its famous pizza, this restaurant and events café has become a go-to place for local artists in Cebu to either hang out in or to perform. Over the years, Handuraw Pizza has a created a diverse community from a 10-year-old band performer to a 70-year-old writer.

Fortunately, even if it leaves this old two-storey house in Gorordo, four other Handuraw Pizza branches scattered around the city remain open.

Handuraw is the Cebuano word for "the power to imagine," "to reminisce," or "flashback” -- which is apt since certainly many Cebuano artists will have fond memories of this restaurant.